Included in this examination of performance appraisal practices is an outline of the characteristics of a good system--one that is cheap to install and only requires a manager to do his/her job. (Author/IRT)

This article provides a series of checklists you can use to find out what symptoms, if any, your performance appraisal system displays; what those symptoms mean and how serious they are; whether a cure should be attempted and, if so, which symptoms should be attacked first. (Author/IRT)

The assessment center technique must be used with great care and caution. The results obtained should serve as only one of a variety of decision-making tools. (Author/IRT)

Eight key steps for effective performance appraisal are developing a positive performance climate, organizing for results, identifying organizational results objectives, defining job responsibility, training managers, developing individual performance standards, developing meaningful performance evaluation forms, and recognizing results.…

Reports the minimum professional standards and ethical considerations for users of the assessment center method as those standards and considerations were developed by the Task Force on Assessment Center Standards. (Author/IRT)

Answers such questions as: What is an assessment center? Can one fake performance at a center? How many skills can be measured? Why are the same skills measured at most assessment centers? What should one be told before attending a center? (Author/IRT)

Meaning is often missing in the appraisal process because of poor selection of evaluation criteria and lack of feedback to the managers doing the rating. (Author/IRT)

Some corporations, called "academies," have the ability to develop a group of above-average and desirable vice presidents and then to lose these individuals to other corporations with no loss in earnings. Much can be learned from these companies' methods to improve management development programs. (Author/MLF)

The model described provides both the supervisor and the employee with a more objective basis for implementing a particular training/development technique and offers the greatest opportunity for performance improvement. (Author/IRT)

An appropriate job analysis will provide the dimensions on which a selection system can be built, the rationale for each of the assessment center exercises, and the rationales for other components. (Author/IRT)

Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) provide a means of integrating effectiveness-based and behavior-based appraisal systems. BARS is a set of scales--one for each major job dimension, or broad class of duties, responsibilities, or activities of a job. (Author/IRT)

Summarizes the results of research conducted on the nature of work-related and personal problems afflicting employee assistance program users. Based on a sample of 14,000 cases, the project sought to identify problems that seem to cluster together and the demographic profile of employees experiencing the cluster. (Author/MLF)

Outlines the development of the program of an assessment center designed for use in management and trainee development. (Author/IRT)

The return on investment for assessment centers is likely to be very high, and, more importantly, it can and should be estimated prior to assessment center design and implementation. (Author/IRT)

Highlights some of the main provisions of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and its 1978 amendments and also reviews some case-law interpretations under the Act. (Author/MLF)